Date of Award

2014

Publisher

North Dakota State University

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Awarded

Master of Science (MS)

Program

Communication

Department

Communication

College

Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Faculty Advisor

Beck, Stephenson J.

Description

Among the various communication technologies that are used in organizations, e-mail has been a dominant communication medium in the modern workplace. The purpose of the current study is to examine how individuals' work group identification influences their perceptions of e-mail use in organizations based on social identity theory. This project examines how individuals' work group identification predicts their perception of an organizational worker's communication competence. Independent-samples t test and multiple regression analysis were adopted to examine the hypotheses and research question. Data was collected using an online questionnaire to report participant perception of communicator competence in hypothetical e-mails, in regard to high-flaming/low-flaming messages and from an ingroup/outgroup member. Participants consisted of 211 people who have more than one year of work experience and use their individual e-mail accounts for communicating with other employees in the same organization. The findings indicated that participants perceived a higher level of conversational effectiveness in an e-mail with a low-flaming message from an ingroup member. Work group identification, sex, and age predicted perceived communication competence in an e-mail with a low-flaming message from an ingroup member, while work group identification (only for conversational appropriateness) and sex negatively predicted perceived communication competence in an e-mail with a high-flaming message from an outgroup member. This empirical research contributes to the development of innovative approaches to workplace e-mail communication studies.

Rights

NDSU Policy 190.6.2

Rights Link

https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf

Handle Identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/10365/27603

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